Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional

public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

corporation serving the southwest of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, specifically the federal states of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

and

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. The corporation has main offices in three cities:

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

, Baden-Baden and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is a part of the ARD consortium. It broadcasts on two television channels and six radio channels, with its main television and radio office in Baden-Baden and regional offices in Stuttgart and Mainz. It is (after WDR) the second largest broadcasting organization in Germany. SWR, with a coverage of 55,600 km², and an audience reach estimated to be 14.7 million. SWR employs 3,700 people in its various offices and facilities.

History

SWR was established in 1998 through the merger of ''Süddeutscher Rundfunk'' (SDR, Southern German Broadcasting), formerly headquartered in Stuttgart, and ''Südwestfunk'' (SWF, South West Radio), formerly headquartered in Baden-Baden. The existence of two public broadcasting corporations in southwest Germany was a legacy of the Allied occupation of Germany after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The French Military Government established SWF as the sole public broadcaster in their occupation zone. This area was later divided into the states of South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

. The American Military Government established SDR in Württemberg-Baden. When

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Württemberg-Baden merged to form

in 1952, the corporations were not merged, although SDR and SWF operated several joint services. The two corporations had intended to merge in 1990, but the merger was pushed back by the reunification process.

Finances

Licensing fees required for radio and TV sets are €17.50 per month, as of 1 April 2015. These fees are not collected directly by the SWR but by the Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio that is a common organisation of ARD, its members, ZDF and Deutschlandradio. In 2016, the SWR received over from these fees, out of nearly collected in total that year.

Studios and offices

SWR operates studios in the following cities: * ''in Baden-Württemberg'': Baden-Baden,

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. A ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

, Tübingen and Ulm * ''in Rhineland-Palatinate'': Kaiserslautern,

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...

and Trier SWR ''regional offices'' are in: *''in Baden-Württemberg'':

Lörrach Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including ...

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrative capital ...

and Villingen-Schwenningen *''in Rhineland-Palatinate'':

Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler () is a spa town in the German Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate that serves as the capital of the Ahrweiler district. The A61 motorway connects the town with cities like Cologne and Mainz. Formed by the merging of the ...

, Betzdorf, Idar-Oberstein and

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

, as well as a recently opened office in Worms. Plans exist for new offices in Traben-Trarbach and Gerolstein. In Baden-Württemberg there are also "Korrespondentenbüros" (roughly: "correspondence offices") for the SWR in

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

, Albstadt-Ebingen, Biberach, Buchen,

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was t ...

, Mosbach, Pforzheim, Ravensburg,

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

, Tauberbischofsheim and Waldshut-Tiengen.

Programming

SWR provides programs to various TV and radio networks, some done in collaboration with other broadcasters, and others completely independently.

Television channels

* Das Erste "Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen" (German Television One) – Collaborative program for the ARD. SWR's portion is 16.95 percent. SWR also contributes to ARD digital, delivered over cable and satellite networks. *

SWR Fernsehen SWR Fernsehen is a German regional television channel targeting the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is produced by Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and is one of eight regional "third channels" broadcast by the ARD members. Hist ...

("Unser Drittes") – SWR television – Our Third"– The channel three network for Baden-Württemberg and the Rhineland-Palatinate. The programming is transmitted in two different versions, one for Baden-Württemberg and one for the Rhineland-Palatinate. The Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR, Saarland Broadcasting) retransmits over 70 percent of these programs under the banner "SR Fernsehen" ("SR Television). * Phoenix – Collaborative network programming between the ARD and ZDF. * KiKA – Children's network from ARD and ZDF. * arte – Franco-German cultural network * 3sat – Cultural network from ARD, ZDF, ORF (Austrian Broadcasting), and SRG (Swiss Broadcasting). *

EinsPlus EinsPlus was a German free-to-air television channel owned by ARD and operated by SWR. The channel launched on 29 August 1997 under the name ''EinsMuXx'', and was renamed ''EinsPlus'' on 23 April 2005. The channel, along with ZDFkultur ...

Radio channels

SWR operates six radio channels on FM and

DAB DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * '' Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dą ...

, all of which are also streamed on the internet. *SWR1 (''Eins gehört gehört – SWR1''): plays international pop and rock music from 1960–1990, European pop music, German pop and a limited number of contemporary hits to a target audience of adults aged 30–55, in two regional versions: **SWR1 Baden-Württemberg **SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz *SWR2 (''Lust auf Kultur''): speech-based radio, including features, radio plays, and readings, plus classical music and jazz. *SWR3 (''Mehr Hits – mehr Kicks – einfach SWR3''): plays pop and contemporary music to a target audience of 14- to 39-year-olds. *SWR4 (''Da sind wir daheim''): plays German hits and "oldies" in two regional versions, each with local and sub-local opt-outs at specified times daily: **SWR4 Baden-Württemberg ***''Baden Radio'' (

) ***''Bodensee Radio'' (

) ***''Franken Radio'' (

) ***''Kurpfalz Radio'' (

) ***''Radio Stuttgart'' (

) ***''Radio Südbaden'' ( Freiburg) **** ''Hochrhein Radio'' (

) ****''Ortenau Radio'' (

) ****''Radio Breisgau'' ( Freiburg) ****''Radio Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg'' ( Villingen-Schwenningen) ***''Radio Tübingen'' ( Tübingen) ***''Schwaben Radio'' ( Ulm) **SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz ***''Radio Kaiserslautern'' ( Kaiserslautern) ***''Radio Koblenz'' (

) ***''Radio Ludwigshafen'' ( Ludwigshafen) ***''Radio Mainz'' (

) ***''Radio Trier'' ( Trier) * DASDING (''Live – laut – lässig''): youth-oriented programming. *SWR Aktuell: news, topical talk, and coverage of current affairs.

History

SWR was established on 1 January 1998 and the new corporation began broadcasting on 1 September 1998. Its predecessor organizations, SDR and SWF, were formally dissolved at 24.00 on 30 September 1998, SWR legally succeeding them with effect from 0.00 on 1 October 1998. Channel mergers and changes with effect from 1 September 1998: * SWF 1 and SDR 1 became SWR1 Baden-Württemberg and SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz: regional programmes for their respective states (Länder) * S 2 Kultur became SWR2 * SWF3 and SDR 3 became the pop station SWR3 * S 4 Baden-Württemberg became SWR4 Baden-Württemberg * SWF 4 Rheinland-Pfalz became SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz * DASDING was unchanged and continued broadcasting * The television channel Südwest 3 became Südwest BW and Südwest RP, and today transmits as SWR Fernsehen A radio news channel, SWR cont.ra, was added in July 2002. This was relaunched with a new programme format on 9 January 2012 as SWRinfo. It was relaunched again as SWR Aktuell on 6 February 2017

Organization

Since 2007, the managing director of SWR has been Peter Boudgoust, who was previously the administrative director of SWR. The managing director's office is located in Stuttgart. Seven other directors serve under him (locations of their offices in parentheses): * Jan Büttner – Administration (Stuttgart) * Dr. Christoph Hauser – Information, Sport, Film, Service & Entertainment (Baden-Baden) * Gerold Hug – Culture, Knowledge, Young Formats (Baden-Baden) * Stefanie Schneider – Regional Programming for Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart) * Dr. Simone Schelberg – Regional Programming for Rhineland-Palatinate (Mainz) * Dr. Hermann Eicher – Legal Department (Mainz) * Michael Eberhard – Engineering and Production (Baden-Baden)

Transmitter locations

* Fernsehturm Stuttgart (Stuttgart TV Tower – a large TV/radio transmission tower in a steel-reinforced concrete structure, also containing a tower restaurant and viewing deck) * Rheinsender at Wolfsheim for FM *

Fernsehturm Heidelberg The Fernsehturm Heidelberg is a transmission tower for FM and DVB-T on the Königstuhl hill of Heidelberg at . It was the property of the City of Heidelberg and sold to the SWR. Because of its exposed location on the crest of the hill the tow ...

(Heidelberg TV Tower – a large TV/radio transmission tower in a steel-reinforced concrete structure, containing a viewing deck). * Transmitter Aalen for FM and TV * Transmitter Waldenburg for FM and TV * Transmitter

Bad Mergentheim Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian: ''Märchedol'') is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recognized spa town since 1926, ...

-Löffelstelzen for FM and TV * Transmitter Ulm-Kuhberg for VHF * Transmitter Freiburg-Lehen for FM and TV * Transmitter Ulm-Ermingen for FM and TV * Transmitter Hornisgrinde for FM and TV * Transmitter

Raichberg Raichberg is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with an elevation of above sea level. It is located in Zollernalbkreis close to the northwestern edge of the Schwäbische 'Alb'. Situated on the summit is Nägelehaus, a guesthouse, as we ...

for FM and TV * Transmitter Wannenberg for FM and TV * Transmitter Blauen for FM and TV * Transmitter

Bad Marienberg Bad Marienberg (Westerwald) is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality. Geography The community lies in the Westerwald between ...

for FM and TV * Transmitter Fernsehturm St. Chrischona (Switzerland) for FM and TV * Transmitter Feldberg im Schwarzwald for FM and TV * Transmitter Weinbiet for FM and TV * Transmitter Haardtkopf for FM and TV * Transmitter Kettrichhof for FM and TV * Transmitter Witthoh for FM and TV * Transmitter Saarburg for FM and TV * Transmitter Potzberg for FM and TV * Transmitter Eifel for FM and TV * Transmitter

Waldburg Waldburg is a town in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is the home of Waldburg Castle, a medieval castle that sits atop the large hill in the town. The castle dates from the twelfth century, when Waldburg was a ...

for FM and TV * Transmitter Dieblich-Naßheck(

) for FM and TV * Transmitter Donnersberg for FM and TV * Transmitter Linz am Rhein for FM and TV * Transmitter Grünten im Allgäu for FM At present, there is a new TV tower at Waldenburg under construction, which should replacer in 2008 old TV tower Waldenburg.

Orchestras and choruses

SWR operates the following musical organizations: * "SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg" – an orchestra with a rich tradition dating back to its establishment in 1946. Formerly the SWF Symphony Orchestra in Baden-Baden. Past chief conductors included Hans Rosbaud and

Ernest Bour Ernest Bour (20 April 1913 - 20 June 2001) was a noted conductor. Born in Thionville, Moselle (in north-eastern Lorraine, then part of Germany), Bour studied at both the University and the Conservatoire of Strasbourg. His conducting teachers incl ...

. The Orchestra is best known through the Donaueschingen Festival for new music. * "Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart of the SWR" in Stuttgart. Also originally organized in 1946, this was the former SDR Radio Symphony Orchestra. A former major chief conductor was Hans Müller-Kray. The Orchestra was best known through its festival appearances in Schwetzingen. * "SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart" – originally the "Southern Radio Chorus" Stuttgart, again dating from 1946. *

Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern) is a German radio orchestra. Its administrative headquarters is in Saarbrücken, at the ''Funkhaus Halberg''. The orc ...

– which merged in 1973 from the ''Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern'' and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken. *"SWR Big Band" – originally the "Southern Radio Dance Orchestra", also organized in 1951, and was led for many years by Erwin Lehn. *"SWR 3 Band" – a cover band in which several announcers of SWR3 play (e.g. Stefanie Tücking, Michael Spleth and Jan Garcia). *"SWR 4 Band" – a cover band in which several music editors of SWR4 Baden-Württemberg adio Stuttgartplay (e.g. Wolfgang Gutmann, Rolf-Dieter Fröschlin, Helmut Link, Karlheinz Link and Peter Schönfeld).

Responsibilities within the ARD

Within the ARD, SWR is responsible for the coordination of the joint network programming on the networks 3sat and arte as well as the main Internet site for the ARD, ARD.de. The offices for ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH are in Baden-Baden, and the offices for ARD.de are in Mainz.
SWR is also responsible for some of the foreign studios operated on behalf of the ARD: * ARD-Studio

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

(Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) * ARD-Studio

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) * ARD-Studio

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

(covering the Geneva offices of the United Nations, as well as Switzerland and Liechtenstein) * ARD-Studio

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

(Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland) * ARD-Studio

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

(Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates) * ARD-Studio

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

(

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada,

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...

, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica,

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

, Colombia, Cuba,

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua,

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

, Panama, Puerto Rico,

St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Venezuela) * ARD-Studio

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

/ Straßburg (covering the offices of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

and the European Council)

Subsidiaries of SWR

The following companies are subsidiaries of SWR-Holding GmbH: * Südwest-Werbung GmbH – Advertising for radio and TV programs * SWR Media GmbH – Licenses of SWR, including use of excerpts and sponsorships * Südfunk Wirtschaftsbetriebe GmbH – Handles rent/leases for the "Parkhotel Stuttgart" * Fernsehturm Betriebs GmbH – Responsible for the viewing deck and restaurant at the Fernsehturm Stuttgart * Schwetzinger Festspiele GmbH – Responsible for the festival at Schwetzingen * Maran-Film-GmbH – Film production company * Bavaria Film GmbH – Film und TV production company * Telepool GmbH – International management for productions of SWR and other public broadcasting services * Der Audio Verlag GmbH – Production and management for audio recordings * TR-Verlagsunion GmbH – Print publisher of various materials related to broadcasting * Haus des Dokumentarfilms e. V. – Not-for-profit organization responsible for various documentaries

References

External links

SWR.de, SWR's homepage (in German)

SWR Symphony Orchestra homepage (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudwestrundfunk ARD (broadcaster) German-language television networks Television stations in Germany Radio stations in Germany Television networks in Germany Baden-Baden Mass media in Mainz Television channels and stations established in 1998 Mass media in Stuttgart

History

Finances

Studios and offices

Programming

Television channels

Radio channels

History

Organization

Transmitter locations

Orchestras and choruses

Responsibilities within the ARD

Subsidiaries of SWR

See also

References

External links